[update - 2009 applications are closed, acceptance notifications will be sent soon]

Well, the details have finally been (largely) nailed down and we can now safely announce that we have official dates and a location for the sessions this year. As hinted at in earlier postings, we’re moving to a new facility this year. It’s part of an experiment to see if we can retain the essential qualities of the experience separated from it’s original context.

So, for the record:
Session 1 – Juniors (ages 8-12) – July 12 through 18
Session 2 – Seniors (ages 12-17) – July 26 through August 1

If you are interested, and those dates work for you and your child, then please fill out an official 2009 Application. Remember, applications are not accepted on a first-come, first-served basis. We are trying to create a unique experience and having the right mix of kids is a big part of that.

2009 Tinkering School Application

As usual, TED was great this year. Sharing a stage with heroes of the modern age turns out to be quite daunting, and crafting a meaningful and powerful three minute presentation worthy of their attention turns out to be very difficult indeed. TED may eventually put up the video of my presentation, but for those that don’t care to wait to see me fumble my lines, here is the comic book version.

comic

And, should you care to print it out, here is a giant PDF.

This version of the presentation includes the ideas and images that had to be cut from the onstage version in order to fit the time limit (Geetha Reddy would call this one “darlings included”).

The idea of converting a presentation to a comic book has been floating around in my head for a couple of years. I feel like it’s working and seems to capture more of the feeling of the presentation than a slide-deck with speaker’s notes. If you have ideas for improvements or other graphic-novel conventions that I could incorporate, I’d like to hear them. -gever

P.S. Also available directly on the TED blog.